A blog launched on the 41st anniversary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the first pro-life organisation in the world, established on 11 January 1967. SPUC has been a leader in the educational and political battle against abortion, human embryo experimentation and euthanasia since then. I write this blog in my role as SPUC's chief executive, commenting on pro-life news, reflecting on pro-life issues and promoting SPUC's work.

“It's All One Curriculum is designed primarily for curriculum developers, schoolteachers, and community educators ... A second audience for the It’s All One Curriculum kit includes health and education policymakers and school administrators ... The content of It’s All One Curriculum was developed for young people aged 15 and older, whether in or out of school. More and more, though, experts and policymakers see the necessity of starting this type of education at earlier ages ... Many educators who teach children younger than 15 can draw on this kit to create an appropriate curriculum” (pp.6-7)

But what is perhaps more significant is the list of acknowledgments:

“Finally, we thank our donors, whose financial and collegial support made It’s All One Curriculum possible. Our sincere thanks to ... the UK Department for International Development (DfID)” (p. vi)

The UK government is the only government listed as a contributor to the curriculum.

There is also a direct link with forced abortion in China. Among the Technical Review committee was: "Tang Kun (China Family Planning Association)". The China Family Planning Association, the state-run IPPF affiliate in China, is responsible for ensuring that the one-child policy is implemented.

Yet what is of greatest - and gravest - importance is the curriculum's deeply sinister content. Below is no more than a small sample of the massive curriculum itself (with my emphases in bold and followed by my brief comments).

This curriculum is a major new worldwide threat to the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the family. Pro-lifers worldwide therefore must urgently study its content, and alert:

parents

school governors, headteachers and other educationalists

politicians and policy-makers

clergy of all denominations (especially Catholic bishops due to their enormous potential influence)

“Indicate a person or organization to go to or call if someone’s sexual rights are being ignored." (p.21) "[I]dentify trusted individuals (or organizations) who can help respond to incidents of discrimination" (p.32) “[J]oin organizations or groups that fight for sexual and reproductive rights using various tactics. Examples include:...community “watch groups".

This is akin to the way that people in Communist East Germany were encouraged to inform on their own family members to the Stasi secret police (Stasi monument pictured above). The Brazilian government has just set up an emergency phone line for people to report incidents of "homophobia".*

“Only when our basic rights are honored (both by governments and by other individuals) can we make meaningful choices about intimate relationships, sex, and childbearing. For example: Individuals... can have a safe abortion. They can adopt a child regardless of their marital status or sexual identity.” (p.28)

This is asserted despite the fact there is no right to abortion or homosexual adoption in international law.

"[Y]oung people who believe in "traditional" or "conservative" gender roles... tend to have more sexual health problems" (p.30)

In other words, family men are really sexually-dysfunctional hypocrites.

"Discuss how gender norms perpetuate child marriage, female genital mutilation, and violence (including sexual violence). Explain how conventional gender roles can increase the likelihood that women and girls will face HIV or other sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Understand that gender norms can undermine the well-being of both boys and girls." (p.43)

The curriculum exploits repeatedly concerns about health and safety in order to attack the natural family.

"Girls also suffer pressures to comply with norms of femininity, for example, to:...avoid having sex before marriage, even if they wish to." (p.49) "Rigid gender roles...contribute to suicide, violence, and many other social problems ... People who may be particularly subject to such stigma include:...women with multiple sexual partners" (p.50)

The upholding of modesty and chastity are thereby denigrated as highly dangerous.

"Despite social taboos, many young people refuse to be isolated [e.g.] sex workers." (p.57) "Around the world, women — and many men — are seeking to expand women’s and girls’ access to and control over resources [e.g.] efforts by sex workers to improve and control their working conditions."

Prostitution is therefore promoted as socially acceptable and worthy of protection.

"Marriage may also reinforce gender norms, including in ways that are unfair and harmful. Certain social movements promote greater equality and dignity within marriage. These include: movements to legalize same-sex marriage" (p.61)

Heterosexual marriage is tarred with the brush of suspicion, whereas gay marriage is lauded as great social progress.

"An educator’s own values should not interfere with teaching about sexuality ... Use respectful terms...particularly in regard to same-sex attraction, sexually active girls, and young people who do not conform to conventional gender norms ... Teachers must...respect their confidentiality." (p.81)

This is a thinly-veiled warning to teachers not to obstruct children's so-called sexual rights or children's access to secret abortions without parental knowledge or consent.

“Sexuality may be expressed by oneself ... Sexuality — expressed alone...can be a source of pleasure and meaning in life. It can enhance happiness, well-being, health, and the quality of life. (p.84) “For many people, fantasy may create or increase desire. Thinking about a sexual act is normal, not shameful.” (p.92) "[T]he rights of all persons to sexual expression. These rights include the right to seek pleasure ... Masturbation is an important way that people learn about their bodies and sexuality ... Masturbation is a safe sexual behavior. It is neither physically nor mentally harmful." (p.99)

Self-abuse is therefore regarded as a human right.

"In terms of sex, no one way to look or behave is correct, so long as consent and safety are assured." (p.87)

This could include incest or adultery.

“Most governments, and most people, recognize the benefits of contraception and the right to use it. Most governments and health services provide contraceptive services to any individual who requests them (regardless of age, gender, or marital status)." (p.206)

Thus the youngest children should have access to artificial birth control - which then makes it all the easier for child sex abusers to conceal their crimes.

"Emergency contraception is useful ... Emergency contraception is not a method of abortion." (p.213)

Getting governmental, judicial and professional authorities to exclude morning-after pills from the category of abortion is the one of the main ways the pro-abortion lobby has been using to promote them.

“People and governments may oppose access to abortion because they ... believe that women should not have control over their own lives and fertility [or] wrongly think that making abortion safe and legal will increase sexual promiscuity or will increase abortion rates.” (p.216)

The curriculum thus shows itself to be nakedly polemical rather than educational.

"People can join national campaigns to achieve fairness and equality. Such campaigns may include those to:...save girls’ and women’s lives by decriminalizing abortion [and] ensure enforcement of laws that protect gender equality (including in the face of opposition by conservative or religious movements). ... People ecan support or join movements for social change at the global level. For example:...youth-led networks for sexual and reproductive rights and services." (p.231)

* Why are homosexual issues relevant to the pro-life movement? The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught in no. 97 of his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

John Smeaton

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 39 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to SPUC's staff, supporters and advisers for their help to me in researching, writing and producing this blog.

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